There's a belief New Zealand's entering the early stages of an export-led recovery.

Stats NZ data reveals it's at $1.4 billion in April, compared with a $12 million deficit last year.

The dairy sector's been the big winner, up $601 million to $2.2 billion.

Former Finance Minister Steven Joyce told Mike Hosking it's promising on the back of a tough three years in the sector.

He says domestically people aren't spending a lot, so imports aren't coming in, but fortunately the world is buying more from us which is a great point in the cycle.

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